Iditarod

ARTICLES ABOUT IDITAROD BY DATE - PAGE 3

With the 2011 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starting this coming weekend, all eyes of the mushing world will be fixed on Alaska. If you have never experienced a sled-dog race I highly recommend it, especially if you are a dog lover. The pure joy and excitement that these animals experience while racing and the bonds that they form with their team is unequaled in the sports world. I would like to thank the Tribune for publishing the article " North to Alaska " (Feb. 15), covering the ins and outs of this iconic event.

You thought your trip to Grandma's house with the kids was a challenge. Ed Stielstra and a couple of friends will hit the road in late February, driving from McMillan in Michigan's Upper Peninsula to Alaska. With them for the 2,000-mile trip will be 18 dogs, Stielstra's team for the 2011 Iditarod, the two-week, 1,000-mile sled-dog race through Alaska. "We have a big dog truck and trailer," said Stielstra, who with wife Tasha runs Nature's Kennel Sled Dog Racing and Adventures, a year-round sled-dog racing operation.

Pat Moon's adventure for 2001 was working on a cattle ranch in rural Kansas. The following year's exploit was paddling down the Amazon River. That was followed by a gig as an umpire for minor-league baseball games. The next adventure begins in a few days, when Moon launches into the Alaskan wilderness behind a team of 16 huskies in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. But the biggest challenge facing this 33-year-old is not the sub-zero temperatures nor mushing by moonlight. The biggest current challenge is staying upright and functioning until he crosses the finish line.

Next to the Westminster dog show, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is my Super Bowl. It's the biggest sled dog race of the year, by far. Heck, it might be the only one. Plus, it's cool -- and not just because it's in Alaska. It includes terms such as musher and gorge; places such as Happy River and Rainy Pass; and competitors such as Lance Mackey and Aliy Zirkle, the Danica Patrick of sled dog racing, or so I'm told. Mackey was leading as I wrote this. My guess is he won't be leading when you read this.

The greatest sporting achievement of 2007 came and went beneath the national radar a week ago. Lance Mackey became the second coming of Lance Armstrong by winning the 35th annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. If you are a sports fan you should know his name--and remember it. Lance Mackey did the impossible, did it with flair, with gumption and with a backstory that left many weeping. The 1,100-mile Alaskan dog sled race from Anchorage to Nome, across frozen terrain, over harsh wilderness, in minus-30-degree weather seasoned with 50 m.p.h.

Dolphins' Porter cited for battery The Miami Dolphins knew they were getting a trash talker when they made linebacker Joey Porter their biggest acquisition of the off-season. They just might not have realized he would start so soon. Porter was cited for misdemeanor battery in Las Vegas on Sunday after punching Bengals offensive tackle Levi Jones in the eye, a police spokesman said. Porter and Jones were playing blackjack at the same table in the Palms Casino when the argument broke out, police said.

A reader least week had a problem with me saying Wisconsin knows how to win boring. I stand corrected. They know how to lose in thrilling fashion. 2. Farm system It's funny how a town like Chicago adopts a winner like Southern Illinois. Finding Carbondale on a map is literally like finding a city in a haystack. 3. Sweet on SIU I love the Salukis. Not a bad lookin' dog. Not. At. All. 4. Speaking of dogs Some disturbing news. The Iditarod disqualified one musher for abusing his dogs.

When he was 10 years old, Thomas Lesatz's mother gave him a map of Alaska that traces the route of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. Sixteen years later, the map adorns the cabin wall where Lesatz lives in Two Rivers, Alaska. Alaska has kept Lesatz spellbound since he was an elementary school student in Downers Grove. He was mesmerized by the sheer size of the union's largest state, its wilderness, animals and dog mushing. He fantasized about competing in the Iditarod, the 1,100-mile throwback race some consider the sporting world's most demanding endurance contest.

Winthrop's coach rewards his players with action figures of the Junk Yard Dog. "Now you tell us," say Westminster judges. 2. Huxtable curse Speaking of the dog show, about this point next week, Cosby's pooch Harry couldn't be more anonymous if he was named Rudy. 3. Realignment What's with all the cheating by NASCAR crews? If you boys can't behave, we're turning over your jobs to Jiffy Lube. 4. Progressive measures In the midst of this NASCAR scandal, one driver was docked 100 points.